Labor Secretary, House Speaker Boost Green Jobs Conference

The BlueGreen Alliance is a coalition of union and environmental organizations

“Green is gold,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she stressed the importance of the coalition in building on the job-creation work started by the Recovery Act last year.

“Know your power in all of this, because nothing this grand happens without your advocacy,” she said.

The Recovery Act was about putting people back to work who lost their jobs due to the recklessness of Wall Street, Pelosi said. But, she added, “We have to have a recognition that some people in this country have never been to work.” The initiatives discussed at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference “give us that opportunity,” she said.

gave more than 1,000 people a pep talk at the “Good Jobs, Green Jobs” conference in Washington this morning, sponsored by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation.

“Green is gold, and if we can’t attract in our initiatives the private sector we can’t be successful.”

“Everything is about creating jobs,” she said, and we can’t allow another situation in which recklessness on Wall Street causes job losses on Main Street.

“The party is over for them”

Recovery Act is allowing for the construction of wind turbines, “smart grid” electricity.

We have to have a recognition that some people in this country have never been to work,”. “Good jobs, green jobs gives us that opportunity.”

“It’s a big job creator to have good-paying jobs.

We want to bring together all of the elements involved … around the idea that good jobs and green jobs, we are honoring the vows of our founders “

The government may stay open, but the fight continues against a GOP budget that wants to cut close to $3 trillion over 10 years from services for lower-income households to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. The people say "Not one penny."

The Trump presidency, like a monster hurricane, is doing unprecedented damage to our democracy and to our progress toward being a nation that is more equitable and fair.

About Isaiah J. Poole

Isaiah J. Poole is communications director of People's Action, and has been the editor of OurFuture.org since 2007. Previously he worked for 25 years in mainstream media, most recently at Congressional Quarterly, where he covered congressional leadership and tracked major bills through Congress. Most of his journalism experience has been in Washington as both a reporter and an editor on topics ranging from presidential politics to pop culture. His work has put him at the front lines of ideological battles between progressives and conservatives. He also served as a founding member of the Washington Association of Black Journalists and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.